Recumbent - Bent-Attire / Shorts/Parachute / Lycra/Queer-looking?

Hi gang,
Ever notice when you wear regular street clothes, i.e. shorts, that they act as a windsock when you're riding? Having my bent now only a few months, I'm starting to notice things.

Wear bike shorts you might say. Well, try explaining that to the g/f who would look at me and question my sexuality. :-D Sure the bike shorts are perfect, but geez, they make you look so queer. If only society would just let us cyclists be.....

Loosen up. Life is too short to live for other people. But if that's your measure of success, good luck. There's no pleasing everyone no matter what you do.

Try rugby shorts. My doc won't let me play anymore(one of the reasons I have to ride a 'bent). They're short and tight enough that they won't parachute. Remember that you're riding a recumbent, its a little late in the game to be worrying about what other people think of you. LOL.

Are you questioning the sexuality of the entire TDF peleton? Or maybe your GF is?

Mt. Borah makes shorts for bent riders. They have a liner. Have draw strings on the legs. My wife says they look nice. Hind also makes shorts that will work.
There won't be any mistaking your sexuality with these shorts.

Wear bike shorts you might say. Well, try explaining that to the g/f who would look at me and question my sexuality. :-D Sure the bike shorts are perfect, but geez, they make you look so queer. If only society would just let us cyclists be.....

If your girlfriend questions your sexuality, you have bigger problems than what to wear when riding.

I dunno what to tell you. Bike, bike shorts...I dunno. You play tennis wearing football pads? Hockey in soccer shorts?

you're only as queer as you feel. Personally, my wife loves seeing the tight buns and nice package when I walk into the room. Call me LL Cool G.

Oh, and I started using rowing shorts - the same kind of support without the diaper pad. JL Racing is the name of the company. Cheaper than bike shorts, too.

I have a flag on my bike that says "Your just pissed because you have to wear a diaper". The roadies in their lyra suits love that...

Since I have been ridign my 'bent, for 5 years now I have gone from bike shorts, let them wear out & did not replace them as they did to wearing Under Armour attire when I ride. I like the "under" shorts & the looser fitting running or exercise style shorts. I still wear jersey's but also like the Under Armour brand shirts.

And a message to the OP to go along with what rules said: " You can please all of the people some of the time. You can please some of the people all of the time. But you can't please all of the people all of the time."

I wear the Under Armour brand pants made of lycra without the diaper as I've noticed regular shorts balloon out (not because of my terrific speeds!) and on long rides there is always a spot where two seams cometogether on regular shorts and wear a hole in my backside.
I just perused the Hostel Shoppe catalogue and I see they carry some brand of recumbent shorts with drawstrings - maybe Mt. Borahs??

Wear bike shorts you might say. Well, try explaining that to the g/f who would look at me and question my sexuality. :-D Sure the bike shorts are perfect, but geez, they make you look so queer. If only society would just let us cyclists be.....

Funny, my fiance (she's a chick, i'm a dude) does less questioning and more verification of my sexuality when I wear them...:D

That said some of my neighbors do look at me funny, but they're a bunch of 1/2 ton rednecks so they have their own problems as I see it

You have not been on a bike tour with a large number of cyclists. Great place to meet the opposite sex. Three major tours. I know of at least two marriages that resulted from them.
If anything standing around in bike gear. Made the opposites attract. Maybe you should hang around with your own kind of people where such narrow mindsets are thought weird.
As to the diaper. Stops chaffing. Nothing more limiting at a campsite than a raw arse.

I kind of feel funny though with the tight shorts on and the obvious buldge or do you pull the equipment back or something. Pardon my ignorance, I'm new to all this. Regular shorts act like 2 little parachutes on my bent.

World Tour, whatsit matter my friend? If you don't like the bulge, wear shorts that don't show it, but you're going to have a trade off. I know very few bent riders who got into bents because they give a damn about what people think of their looks. Don't worry about it, maybe think of it this way, if you've got a bulge to worry about, youre ahead of quite a few men out there.

you can get baggy bike shorts, dude. I also have these pga brand shorts, designed for golf, that are quick dry and have a mesh liner inside that work pretty well - there are a ton of options available to you. Pick one.

I'm using regular spandex biking shorts with a thin chamois. It's possible to wear a pair of gym shorts over for modesty, although you'll see the legs slide up and may get a wrinkle of cloth to sit on. Another pair of my bike shorts has spandex inside and baggies outside, but the chamois is a thicker foam pad and not as comfortable on the 'bent.

I worry about bees flying up baggies while I'm riding. I like something a little tighter.

I've been riding a Stratus since '98, and I do enjoy the ventilation provided by loose-legged shorts.
HOWEVER, I did have a bee fly up the leg of my shorts, on the Burlington VT bike path, and she started banging away on my leg. (Before she got to my boy-bits, thankfully). Ice, Tylenol and Benadryl helped.

Roadie shorts with a "diaper", as y'all refer to it, bunch uncomfortably on a RANS seat, and I hate having to pull down my pants to pee. I remember getting my first pair back in the 80's, and being embarrassed by the "look", but they really do help when you're riding with a door-stop crammed up your a$$.

For the Stratus and Screamer bents:
I found some nice shorts at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports), that have a liner, a fly zipper, and narrow nylon straps at the leg openings that adjust with a ladder buckle. I can set them for ventilation without the parachute effect, or tighten them up to keep out the bees.

Best of luck...Tackdriver

Personally, I always felt queer wearing
a suit and particularly a tie! I am not
into lycra for similar reasons, but mostly
cause I just can't see myself looking good
in em. (Weight and image issues, even
though I am trim and fit these days.) But
I don't hold it against anyone who wears
lycra, since most of those young and old
sprouts could kick my butt in a bike race.

But for my bent riding, I just wear a
comfortable pair of denim or kacky shorts.
That, and a t-shirt, white socks and sports
shoes. Hell, that's pretty much what
I wear year round in Southern California.
Switching out long legged denims in the
fall and winter.

I recommend shorts. Dignified.
Comfortable. And you look good too! :O)

The EMS shorts are no longer available.
Ex-Officio currently makes a men's Amphi Short with similar features, and a women's Amphi Short, without the liner, for about $55.

Loosen up. Life is too short to live for other people. But if that's your measure of success, good luck. There's no pleasing everyone no matter what you do.

+1. I don't remember who said it, but "I don't know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is to try and please everyone."

SP
Bend, OR

How disappointing. When I saw the title I thought "parachute! Oh goody; I could sure use that!" But alas - a shorts discussion. And with skin cancer I always wear plain old jeans. Oh well.......

Bicycle Base Jump Much?

Wear what you want. I prefer to wear what works, and lycra shorts/tights are what works for me.


... As to the diaper. Stops chaffing. Nothing more limiting at a campsite than a raw arse.

If you mean "chafing," then we don't usually worry about it, this being a recumbent forum. About the only time I've ever heard about a recumbent rider being chafed is after riding in an all-day rain, on a wet seat pad. If you really mean "chaffing," then I offer this chaffing response:

Entry Word: chaffing
Function: adjective
Definition: marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing <a chaffing tone to Dadʼs discussion of my sisterʼs new boyfriend>— see quizzical

Lycra shorts work great, are comfortable and don't turn into sails when riding. I have yet to find anything better. I admit to not looking since what I have and use already work great.

I quit wearing the bike shorts when I got my 'bent. But, this spring went back to wearing them under 'normal' shorts as I got a couple of bugs :notamused: and a bee :eek: up the leg of the shorts where you really, :twitchy: really :twitchy: don't want one. The bike shorts cured that problem.

As far as 'queer'????? If you're confident in yourself, who gives a rats you-know-what about what others think.

Compression shorts. Look for them in running shops.

I have a flag on my bike that says "Your just pissed because you have to wear a diaper". The roadies in their lyra suits love that...


I gotta remember that! :lol:

I'll have to say that to my DF freinds when we are giving each other flack. :roflmao2:

I have a flag on my bike that says "Your just pissed because you have to wear a diaper". The roadies in their lyra suits love that...

Probably due to the flagrant grammar errors. :)